MUZAFFARABAD, July 13: More than 1,000 people in Azad Kashmir on Wednesday demanded a role in the latest round of peace talks between Pakistan and India.

Activists from militant groups rallied in Muzaffarabad and also called for holy war against India, an AFP reporter said.

“Talks between India and Pakistan will be in vain without Kashmiri representation,” said Syed Salahuddin, head of the militant group Hizb-ul- Mujahedin which is fighting Indian rule in the divided Himalayan region.

“We are not opposing the dialogue process but it will remain useless without the participation of Kashmiris,” he added.

The latest round of peace talks comes after a break of more than two years, which followed the killing of 166 people by gunmen in Mumbai in November 2008 in attacks that India blamed on Pakistani extremists.

The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan are scheduled to meet later this month in New Delhi.